Austin Dunbar

Design studio founder and world-class distiller exploring his first exit

38 years oldFort Thomas, KYMember since Feb 9, 2026Renewal Feb 9, 2027Needs mastermind placement

Before your call with Austin

Brand new member (14 days). First community he has ever joined — treat this relationship carefully.
Actively working on a 3-year exit strategy for Durham Studio. Raising EBITDA for 6–8x multiplier. Needs peers who have been through exits, not advisors.
Wrestling with owner-to-operator separation. Looking for an operations director. "I need to be more owner than operator."
His distillery just won World's Best Rye and World's Best Finished Whiskey. Great conversation starter.
Anti-patterns: hates business card networking, fake enthusiasm, pitch events. Keep it real with him.

Business Snapshot

CompanyDurham Studio

AlsoWenzel Distillery, solar/battery co., real estate holdings

IndustryDesign & Creative / Spirits

Revenue$12–16M combined

Team10–12 (studio)

StageStable, exploring 3-year exit

Personal Context

FromMilitary family — grew up in Japan and Europe

FamilyMarried, three daughters (19, 13, 12)

Personality

Direct, no-BS, lone wolf opening up for the first time. Hates fake networking. Values personality over portfolio.

Current Goals

Scale Durham beyond founder dependency

3-year exit preparation

Find operations director

Publish a book (memoir + method)

Diversify into passive investments

Current Challenges

Key-man risk — clients want him, not his team

Industry headwinds (creative going in-house)

Never had peer support before

Needs to build enterprise-level sales system

What Austin Gives

Brand positioning & design systemsNarrative clarity12+ years of pattern recognition from real buildsInvestment deal flow

What Austin Needs

Exit strategy peersOps director search guidanceService business scaling playbookTax/saving strategies

Health Indicators

Churn Risk

Renewal Readiness

Engagement

Emotional Trajectory

Cautiously optimistic. Excited about FC but guarded — lone wolf instincts. Watch for withdrawal if early experiences don't feel authentic.

Recent Activity

OnboardingCompleted app + Slack setupFeb 12

SlackIntroduced himself in #generalFeb 14

CallScheduled first mastermind orientationFeb 20

Best Connection Matches

Jeffrey Wazen

Both navigating owner-to-operator transition. Complementary industries, same age.

92%

Michael Jamieson

Michael has 17 years of scaling operations experience. Austin needs that perspective for his exit prep.

92%

Steve Brudzewski

Steve has built and exited before (Top Drawer Merch). Direct exit experience Austin is seeking.

92%

Suggested Next Actions

Introduce to Jeffrey Wazen

Both wrestling with operator-to-owner transition. Jeffrey runs 40 locations, Austin runs a studio — different scale, same core challenge.

Connect with Miami event attendees

Austin travels to Fort Lauderdale/Miami frequently. Surface upcoming South Florida events.

Follow up on mastermind placement

Flagged as "SPECIAL CASE — NEEDS NEW MM." Ensure he gets placed in a group that feels authentic and high-caliber.